


Keep Your Head Up.

by thesameoldfairytale



Series: Turning Tide. [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Celestino owns a hotel, JJ is the new reception manager, M/M, Otabek & Yuri are in their mid-20s, Otabek is a receptionist, Yuri is the bar manager, Yuri swears a lot, everyone other than Otabek & Yuri is only mentioned and/or talked about, hotel au, rated for language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-05
Updated: 2017-09-05
Packaged: 2018-12-24 08:51:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12009273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesameoldfairytale/pseuds/thesameoldfairytale
Summary: Otabek comes home from work one afternoon bearing some bad news for him and Yuri. Being the loving  boyfriend that he is, Yuri gets angry on Otabek's behalf and then quickly turns things upside down.





	Keep Your Head Up.

**Author's Note:**

> This is unbeta'd because the 7-hour time difference between me and my lovely beta didn't help with my impatience to get this out and I just didn't want to bother her. *hides in shame*

“Fuck, fuck, fuuuuck…”

The passionate swear words that came from the front door were as surprising as they were unusual. If Yuri wasn’t so convinced that it was indeed Otabek’s angry voice echoing throughout their small apartment, he would’ve thought that someone had perhaps hurt themselves breaking into their flat.

He grabbed the remote control from the coffee table to mute the television just as he heard the front door being slammed shut. Craning his head over the back of the couch, Yuri’s insanely long hair was almost touching the hardwood floor. 

The first thing he noticed when Otabek came strutting into the living room was the undeniable tension in his shoulders and the deep frown on his face. Otabek practically ripped the leather jacket from his torso and threw it carelessly onto the ground before he framed Yuri’s face with both of his hands and kissed him hard, closed-mouthed but a beat too long to be a normal hello-kiss.

“What’s going on, Beka?” Yuri asked with equal amounts of curiosity and concern in his voice when he turned around and kneeled on the couch cushions.

Instead of answering, Otabek started pacing back and forth around their dining table, towards the entertainment set and between the sofa and coffee table. He was huffing and obviously in his own little world, completely ignoring his impatient and worried boyfriend who was somehow still sitting on the sofa and observing every tiny move Otabek made.

Only then did Yuri really start to wonder what had gotten Otabek so upset and… angry. Otabek never swore, never, yet he had come home rivalling Yuri’s foul mouth. 

Another thing that worried Yuri was the fact that Otabek was still in his uniform, black slacks and an equally black fitted button-down. The only thing missing was the badge showing his name and the four tiny flags representing the languages he spoke.

Just as Yuri was about to ask again what had happened, Otabek came to a halt next to the dining table and spoke up without looking at Yuri.

“I just got fired.”

In less than a second Yuri shot up and out of his seat. “You what?” he yelled, his eyes wide in shock.

“I just got fired,” Otabek repeated calmly, making Yuri shudder a little. 

There were only two instances in the past where Yuri had ever seen his normally so polite and collected boyfriend as eerily calm and scary as he was now. Both times some random dude had been hitting on Yuri, touching him without his consent and whispering sleazy things into his ear, and neither one of those stupid assholes had taken no for an answer. Otabek was the kind of person who should not be crossed when he became possessive, when he considered Yuri to be in danger. The caring boyfriend he normally was turned into a green-eyed monster whenever someone appeared to be a threat to his blonde prince. 

As far as Yuri could remember, nothing of the sorts had happened lately and surely not during Otabek’s last shift, so where was all of this creepy calmness coming from?

“You’re freaking me out, Beka,” Yuri admitted as he walked over to Otabek. Looking into those deep, chocolate brown eyes, all he could find was fury. “What the fuck happened?”

Yuri had learned over the years that Otabek had some sort of sixth sense when it came to him. Otabek must have noticed that he felt a little uncomfortable because suddenly the look on his face turned soft. Too soft.

“Beka, come on,” Yuri said, reaching over and caressing Otabek’s cheek, as the first tears escaped Otabek’s gorgeous eyes.

Surprised, Yuri caught himself staring for a moment but he quickly shook himself out of his momentary haze and put his arms around his shaking boyfriend. 

Otabek let himself sink into the chair behind him. He pulled Yuri onto his lap before his hands immediately fisted the fabric of Yuri’s shirt on his back, desperately holding onto him as he began sobbing into Yuri’s chest.

“Tell me what happened, Beka,” Yuri mumbled into Otabek’s shiny black hair. 

He was trying his best to soothe him, to calm him down enough so they could talk. Hearing and seeing Otabek this distraught was tugging at his heartstrings just as much as it was starting to make him angry now. 

It took a lot for Yuri to be patient. He had his suspicions as to what went down at the small, family-owned hotel they both worked at, or in Otabek’s case used to work at as a receptionist.

Thinking back to all the things Otabek had mentioned over the last few weeks, never quite complaining but certainly having been unhappy and frustrated with how things had been going ever since the new reception manager had started, Yuri could only imagine who was responsible for Otabek losing his job.

“Please do not tell me that it was JJ who fired you,” Yuri said when Otabek still hadn’t made any indication that he was going to tell him anything any time soon. He was desperately hoping he was wrong though.

Noticing how Otabek’s breath hitched for just a fraction of a second, Yuri considered that to be enough of an answer.

“You have got to be shitting me,” he growled whilst he scrambled out of Otabek’s lap. “What did that pathetic excuse of a human being do?” 

Yuri was pissed off. No, pissed off didn’t even begin to cover how he felt. He had met Otabek’s new superior only a couple of times but he had taken an instant dislike to the man. Thankfully, Yuri himself didn’t have to deal with him a lot as the bar manager in the hotel’s own restaurant, yet all the things Otabek had told him about the shitty things JJ had done since starting his job at the hotel, had just intensified his initial dislike of the man.

“This fucking jerk has been a pain in my ass ever since he first started. He’s been treating you like shit, Beka. Why the fuck are you the one who got fired? Celestino should’ve kicked his sorry ass out, not you.”

Otabek was trying to get a word in edgewise but Yuri didn’t see him. He might have completely forgotten about his presence in the room as well judging by the way he was obviously starting to talk himself into a rant.

Yuri went on, complaining about JJ, how unfairly he had been to Otabek since day one, how he had begun to throw all their routines in the office overboard for the sake of making the hotel his without listening to his staff, not even considering what they had to say. 

“You are the most competent person I have ever met, Beka. You are fucking brilliant at what you do. What ground could JJ possibly have to stand on to actually fire you? How is that even possible?” Yuri rambled on, getting more furious with every word that passed his lips.

“Yura…” Otabek said quietly, but Yuri didn’t really hear him. 

“I can’t fathom how this is justified,” Yuri said. “You need to talk to Celestino. JJ can’t possibly make this kind of decision on his own and…”

He was suddenly cut off by Otabek’s firm voice finally reaching his ears. “Celestino knows,” Otabek simply stated. “He clearly doesn’t care.”

Yuri looked at him, blinking the confusion out of his eyes. “What do you mean he doesn’t care?” he stuttered, stopping in place on the other side of the dining table.

Otabek didn’t even look at him when he explained the situation. “There were some issues with the finances last Monday. I spoke to Sara this morning to try to sort it out but we couldn’t. She asked me to have another look over it all with Michele on Friday. She clearly didn’t know that JJ was about to fire me a few hours later,” he said, beginning to tell Yuri what had actually happened. “When JJ told me they were letting me go, I sent Sara another email, just saying that this was my last shift and apologising for leaving her with this mess. JJ was practically looking over my shoulder and when he saw my email he said they all already know. The way he said it… It just…”

Otabek’s jaw was tense. The muscles in it were flexing, making his entire face look even sharper than usual. Yuri didn’t interrupt him when he took a deep breath and continued.

“Celestino knows and he doesn’t care. He clearly took whatever JJ told him for fact, otherwise he would’ve bothered to get in touch with me and talk to me.”

“Beka, this is so… fucked up,” Yuri sighed defeated. He didn’t know what he could possibly do or say to make Otabek feel better.

Slowly walking around the table, Yuri sat down in the chair next to Otabek, turning his entire body so he was facing him. Otabek’s fingers were laced together and placed on the dining table, shaking slightly. He seemed so transfixed on them that Yuri put one of his hands on top of them and the other one on the side of Otabek’s head, gently brushing his fingers against the short undercut behind his ear. “What did JJ actually say to you?”

Otabek sighed again, but he still refused to look at Yuri.

“He said it’s just not working out,” Otabek told him. “He criticised me for leaving the whatsapp group chat, saying that I was alienating myself from everyone else by doing that, even though I know everyone else hates that chat just as much as I do and all I wanted was to avoid causing any more tension in the chat.”

Yuri once more felt the anger inside him bubble to life. “This is not a reason to fire you. That stupid fucking chat should not have existed in the first place and you know that,” he almost yelled, only holding back in an attempt not to spook Otabek.

“I know that but when Phichit set it up it seemed like a good idea and it was working well until JJ joined,” Otabek admitted, but Yuri knew how annoyed and frustrated he had been with the group chat for several weeks now.

None of what Otabek had told him so far made any sense to Yuri. Nothing was actually a reason to fire someone.

“What else?” he asked, sensing there must be more to it than all the shit that senseless group chat had stirred up. 

“JJ told me that Isabella apparently had some issues with me as well,” Otabek said almost too casually, like he already believed it was all his fault, but Yuri knew it definitely wasn’t.

“Isabella?” he said dumbfounded. “What could she possibly have to bitch about? You’ve been nothing but nice to her.”

Otabek finally turned around to face Yuri as well. Their knees were touching and neither one of them let go of each other’s hands. Yuri was sure he needed the touch just as much as Otabek did. It was grounding him, keeping him from exploding on Otabek’s behalf.

“Remember the guys from Jameson’s Electrical and them booking an extra room for last week?” Otabek asked, briefly glancing up at Yuri, who only nodded in response. “When she left me the note about the extra room, I checked what she had done on the system. It didn’t match up so I changed it and basically explained to her what I had done. I told her that I can show her everything on the screen the next time I see her and that she can give me a call so I can talk her through it if something like this happens again before I see her. According to JJ, me offering her help came across as me putting myself above her. She was pissed off because she’s been at the hotel longer than I have and she knows what she’s doing which she clearly didn’t in that situation otherwise she wouldn’t have left me that stupid note in the first place.”

This just made Yuri even angrier. He had always thought that Isabella was a nice and friendly person but it seemed he had been fooled. “What the fuck does it matter how long she has been at the hotel? If she really knew how to handle every little aspect of her stupid job, then why did she mess this booking up? You had worked at the hotel before, you know how to do your job and if she’s so convinced that she’s immune to making mistakes just because she’s been at the hotel longer than you have, then why are you the only one doing the fucking financials? If it were all up to length of employment, they should’ve made her manager instead of hiring JJ, right?”

Squeezing Yuri’s hands tightly but not to the degree that it hurt the blonde, Otabek slightly shook his head, probably more for his own sake than anything else.

“I don’t care about all this, Yura,” Otabek confessed. “I’m just sad and… hurt that she didn’t come to me. Her messages were always friendly and she was always nice to my face. I don’t get why she was complaining about me behind my back instead of talking to me about it all.”

The sincerity in Otabek’s words made Yuri’s heart clench. He knew how fond Otabek had been of Isabella. Having her betray him like that must have hit him harder than he expected. Yuri couldn’t deny that he wasn’t entirely surprised though.

“Beka, she’s been sucking up to JJ ever since that asshole got hired,” he said quietly but with as much determination as he could muster. He wanted Otabek to realise that none of those ungrateful bastards were worth a second thought. “Those two have been all chummy from the start and the whole petty cash disaster from a couple of weeks ago probably only brought them closer together. If you or Leo or Seung-Gil had helped yourselves to money out of the reception petty cash without informing anyone about it or even forgetting to put it back for two days like JJ had, you all would’ve been under fire in an instant. All this unreasonable bullshit only happened because it was JJ and Isabella screwing up. They did this and they should’ve taken responsibility instead of having a go at you for wanting to know why money was missing. It was their mistake and they couldn’t own up to it. You just did your fucking job.”

Unexpectedly, Otabek finally looked up. Yuri stayed silent then, just giving him a chance to collect his thoughts. Eye contact with anyone other than Otabek tended to put Yuri on edge but it was different now. Otabek seemed to be looking for something in his eyes, he just didn’t know what. Nevertheless, Yuri didn’t budge. He let Otabek look for whatever he was hoping to find.

When Otabek leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against Yuri’s, they both had their eyes closed and gave in to the other’s comfort entirely.

“I love you, you know that?” Otabek whispered without actually pulling away from Yuri, their foreheads still touching.

Yuri reached up with one hand to brush away the stray tears that had escaped Otabek’s eyes again. “I still don’t know what reason JJ exactly had for firing you,” he said and paused, putting a cautious finger under Otabek’s chin to lift his head up again, “but Beka, they’re not worth it. You are. They’re not doing themselves any favours by letting you go. You know you’re damn good at your job…”

“That’s what JJ said,” Otabek interrupted him, sad but wide eyes shyly looking at him.

Yuri was actually speechless. What did Otabek mean by that? This made even less sense than what he had heard so far.

“Hang on a second,” he said, waving his hand around to force himself to think more before speaking again. “JJ fired you but actually told you that you’re good at your job?”

Otabek only nodded, his head falling again.

“Okay,” Yuri said and got up from his seat. “So this little piece of shit didn’t fire you because you actually did something wrong. He got rid of you because he had a personal problem with you… whatever that fucking problem was. How could anyone not get along with you? This makes no fucking sense, Beka. You’re the most reliable, responsible and polite person anyone could ever meet.”

He was the one pacing around the room then, talking himself into a state of endless anger and frustration.

“JJ is a fucking jackass, just like Miss Perfect and Celestino. They can all suck my fucking balls. You do not deserve this, Beka. It’s not fair. You didn’t do anything wrong…”

Yuri was sure he would’ve gone on and on for quite some time but then Otabek was suddenly stood in front of him, grabbing him with one hand at his nape and the other on the small of his back. He was pulled flush against Otabek’s chest, their lips meeting in a hot and heavy kiss. It was harsh and needy, desperate on both parts.

There was something Yuri was looking for in the kiss, something akin to confirmation, realisation even that Otabek understood that Yuri knew he hadn’t done anything that actually warranted him getting fired. With that kiss he wanted to show Otabek that he was better than them, he was worth so much more and he deserved people who acknowledged that worth. Yuri could only hope that he managed to get all that across with that one single kiss.

He had no idea how long they had been kissing but surely it couldn’t have been very long. As soon as they pulled apart again, it hit Yuri immediately.

“I’m handing in my notice tomorrow,” he said, staring straight ahead into Otabek’s now strangely light brown eyes. “One more week and I’m out of there.”

Otabek pecked Yuri’s lips again, only for a second and the touch was barely there but Yuri’s arms instantly held onto him more intensely.

“You’re not quitting, Yura,” Otabek responded.

Yuri wouldn’t have any of it though. “Why the hell not? They can’t do this to you and I don’t want to work for these assholes after the shit they’ve pulled on you.”

When Otabek slowly let some of his fingers slide through his soft long hair, Yuri immediately leaned into the touch, sighing contently.

“Yura,” Otabek calmly said before Yuri had a chance to completely drift off. “You can’t barge out of there because they let go of me, at least not until I have a new job. We won’t be able to pay rent if we’re both unemployed and you can’t tell them about us either. No one at the hotel knows we’re together. They might fire you as well if they find out we’ve been dating while we were both working there.”

Everything Otabek said made sense. Of course it did, but it certainly didn’t mean that Yuri had to like any of it. He had used his grandfather’s address for his official employee records. No one at the hotel was aware that he was living with Otabek.

“I’m taking Victor up on his offer,” Yuri suddenly said then, a frown appearing on Otabek’s face as soon as the words had left his mouth.

“What offer?” Otabek asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

Yuri immediately took his hand and lead him over to the couch. He pushed Otabek down into the cushions and then slipped back into his lap, his arms instantly wrapping around Otabek’s shoulders.

“You remember I told you that Victor and Katsuki bought a bar in the city a couple of months ago?” Yuri asked, knowing full well that Otabek knew what he was talking about because Otabek remembered everything. “Victor asked me to take over as the bar manager there. I declined.”

“What?” Otabek asked surprised. “Why?”

Yuri nuzzled into Otabek’s neck briefly, breathing in his unique scent that he had grown to love so much ever since they had met. 

“I didn’t tell you because I knew you would want me to take the job,” Yuri confessed, “and I just… I was considering it but I wasn’t going to leave you on your own.”

Otabek pressed a lingering kiss to the top of Yuri’s blonde head, tightening his grip around his waist and pulling him in even closer.

“Do you still want the job?” Otabek asked and this time it was Yuri who only nodded, his shiny hair tingling the skin on Otabek’s neck. “Then take it, Yura. You should’ve taken it as soon as Victor offered it to you.”

Yuri pressed his lips against Otabek’s temple. “I love you,” he said, appreciating the support.

As fast as that warm feeling had begun to pool in his stomach, dread settled in as well. How had they wind up with Otabek taking care of him? He should be the one comforting Otabek.

“I’m sorry, Beka,” Yuri quickly said, his voice quiet and full of remorse. “I didn’t mean to make this about me. I just feel like I’m actually going to snap JJ’s neck if I have to see him again.”

Otabek caressed the side of his face, looking deep into his eyes. When Yuri saw the hints of a small smile forming on the corner of Otabek’s lips, he couldn’t help but return the smile.

“Take the job, Yura,” Otabek said again. “I know I’m good at what I do. I will find something else soon. As the manager at Victor’s bar, you can still work your rota around mine and nothing really has to change. We’ll be fine.”

Yuri really didn’t know how he got so lucky or what he had done to deserve him in the first place, but he knew he would never give Otabek up again. 

“I’m sure Victor would have a job for you too,” Yuri said, hope flaring up inside him at the off-chance that he might actually be helpful for once.

Otabek brushed a few loose strands of hair out of Yuri’s face before a dreamy, yet genuine smile finally appeared fully his face.

“I appreciate the thought,” Otabek said, “but I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I love you so much and that’s exactly why I don’t think us working together would do us any favours.”

“Suppose so,” Yuri gave in, actually understanding where Otabek was coming from. If they were to work together like that they would either spend too much time together or no time at all. It would drive them apart either way, and that was the last thing Yuri wanted. “You’ll find something new soon. I know it, something way better, a place where you’re actually appreciated and where they know how indispensable you are. JJ and Celestino will realise soon enough how much they’ve fucked up. They’ll be lost without you. They can all go down with that sinking ship and it fucking serves them right.”

Yuri could only watch as Otabek’s eyes began to sparkle again. It was the look he loved to see so very much. He always got lost in that intense stare Otabek had on him. Yuri would’ve avoided anyone else who looked at him that way but when it came to Otabek, he was craving it.

“You’re perfect just the way you are. Some people are just too stupid to see that,” Yuri mumbled against Otabek’s lips before they fell into a slow but demanding kiss, tasting each other just as much as they were both surrendering to their other half.

“Thank God you’re so incredibly smart then,” Otabek replied, his usual smirk back on his face when the words came tumbling out.

Yuri huffed once but the huge smile playing around his lips betrayed him. He let himself fall back into the couch cushions and pulled Otabek on top of him. “Consider yourself lucky, mister,” Yuri almost giggled.

He leaned up slightly and immediately began to nibble on Otabek’s bottom lip again, unwilling to ever let go of that gorgeous mouth.

* * * * *

A couple of hours later Yuri had called Victor and agreed to take him up on the job offer. The next day he had handed in his resignation at the hotel much to everyone’s surprise. He didn’t return to the hotel at all in the end, calling in sick for the last seven days he was still tied to Celestino. 

Three days after Otabek lost his job, Leo and Seung-Gil also left the hotel once they had found out what JJ had done to Otabek. They had never signed a contract, so they were free to go whenever they wanted. 

JJ and Isabella were on their own at the reception now and Yuri hoped they were drowning in work. He also couldn’t help but keep his fingers crossed that Celestino was finally selling the hotel after trying to get rid of the place for several years already. Yuri wanted all three of them to be left with absolutely nothing.

As it turned out, Yuri found out by chance around two months later that Celestino had indeed managed to sell the hotel. He had been forced to let go of the place for way under market value which made Yuri at least feel a little better. JJ and Isabella, well, they were left without a job and Yuri hoped desperately that no one would be stupid enough to hire either one of them any time soon.

Thanks to his experience Otabek had no trouble finding a new job. Two weeks after leaving Celestino’s hotel, he was hired as the new reception manager at a 5* spa hotel in the city. Yuri had pushed him to apply for manager positions, unwilling to let Otabek hand in any CVs for jobs that were unsuited for his impressive set of professional skills. 

It had all worked out well in the end and they finally didn’t have to hide their relationship anymore. It was just the cherry on top.

If Yuri had learned anything through this entire fucked-up situation, it was that no one should ever sell themselves short and most importantly… karma was a bitch. 

**Author's Note:**

> I planned on writing a Hotel AU for my Big Bang piece but then I got fired from my job last week, so here I am now projecting myself on poor Otabek. Sadly enough, I didn't have a Yuri to cheer me up... ;)
> 
> Felt a little weird writing a story without any smut in it but it is what it is. Hope ya'll enjoyed it nevertheless! 
> 
> Let me know what you think! <3


End file.
